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Wine Region With a View
With that oh-so California combination of ocean spray and
mountain ranges, scenic Santa Barbara County wine country
hits its stride
By: Jane F. Garvey
Images
By: R. Dickey
If there’s anything the vintners of Santa Barbara County can agree on, it’s what makes their region special: the vast Pacific Ocean spreading along the county’s coast.
But even a casual visitor can see that the Santa Ynez and San Rafael mountain ranges also have a lot to do with making Santa Barbara grapes unique.
“ The two ranges run east and west,” notes award-winning local winemaker Jim Clendenen. Clendenen — who owns Au Bon Climat winery and has an avid following in Atlanta — traces his personal history in Santa Barbara winemaking back to the 1970s.
He adds that the valleys formed by these ranges act as conduits to the cool ocean air, balancing out the warm days and making for ideal slow-ripening conditions. Louis Lucas of Santa Barbara winemakers Lucas & Lewellen agrees, but says it’s still the ocean that does the heavy lifting. The county really is a peninsula, he says, and its 50-mile shoreline is the longest east-west shoreline between Alaska and Cape Horn. Both Lucas and Clendenen were here when the wine industry first started booming in Santa Barbara— and both have learned a lot since then.The Heartland
Santa Barbara boasts four main growing areas, three of which are recognized American Viticultural Areas: Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Rita Hills. The fourth area, Los Alamos, is not yet officially recognized.
Santa Maria Valley is home to the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard, once a large land grant to the Ontiveros family. Bob Miller, who with his brother, Steve, owns the remaining 2,700 acres and has 800 acres planted to grapes.
Miller, whose family has owned the property since the 1970s, echoes Lucas when he recalls,“ We didn’t have a clue as to what would grow or what the market was looking for.”
But by the early 1980s, Bien Nacido was turning out good Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. Now the vineyard also has Pinot Blanc, Merlot and small blocks of Barbera, Tocai Friulano and Viognier. Winemakers who purchase grapes from Bien Nacido often proudly include specific block information on the labels.
Down In The Valley
Much warmer than Santa Maria, Santa Ynez Valley is home to a variety of recognized wineries, including Beckman, Fess Parker, Gainey, Verdad, Zaca Mesa, Firestone and its sister winery, Curtis — all currently or soon to be available most metro areas in the South.
Occupying a breathtaking spot overlooking the valley, Firestone now employs the winemaking talents of Kevin Willenborg. “It’s like middle Napa Valley,” says Willenborg, who worked in Napa Valley for 14 years. “But it changes. The north end of Santa Ynez Valley has trapped heat. Closer to the river, there are pockets of cooler air.” Santa Ynez is down to the 70s by evening, he says, while central Napa is still hot.
Heat-seeking Cabernet Sauvignon doesn’t usually work in this region, with one distinct exception — Happy Canyon. Bill Wathen, winemaker at Foxen Vineyards, thinks Happy Canyon (locally called Happy Valley) in the east end of Santa Ynez Valley is ideal for Cabernet. The 2001 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon makes his point. Unfiltered and unfined, it’s a big, full-bodied wine that has lots of appeal, delicious fruit and some serious tannins. Whereas the rest of Santa Ynez runs between 70 and 90 degrees during the growing season, Happy Canyon can hit the mid-90s, he says.
Lovely Rita
Santa Rita Hills actually is a sub-appellation of Santa Ynez Valley, but soils and climate separate it from the east side. Its vintners include both established wineries, such as Sanford, and up-and-coming vintners, such as Clos Pepe. The latter, under the enthusiastic winemaking direction of Wes Hagen, points the way to the region’s future, with stellar Chardonnays (especially the Hommage à Chablis) and Pinot Noirs. He also produces excellent Syrahs.
“ The dirty little secret of Santa Rita Hills,” says Hagen, “is that we’re still figuring out what we’re doing, but we’re making killer wines in the process. When we grow up, nothing’s gonna stop us. We’re still babies.”
That statement sounds exactly like what the region’s pioneers went through back in the 1970s. Hagen notes that the 2002 vintage “took us to a place we didn’t quite deserve yet, but we were getting great prices per ton for the fruit.”
Lying between Santa Maria and Santa Ynez valleys is as-yet-undeclared Los Alamos, where Kendall-Jackson and Beringer have located their Santa Barbara vineyards. Home mostly to growers, Los Alamos is also becoming known for some excellent grapes.
Working Together
Santa Barbara also offers excellent dining and lodging facilities. Most restaurateurs focus on regional bounty and make special efforts to plan their wine lists around the region’s viticulture.
Patrick Rand, owner and executive chef of Patrick’s Side Street Café in Los Olivos, draws his wine list from his favorite producers in the county. His hanger-style steak with chimichurri (a thick Argentinean herb sauce) and grilled bok choy was perfect with the 2001 Russell Syrah from Santa Ynez Valley. Rand is nothing if not exuberant about Santa Barbara wines. “I think it’s about to take over Napa,” he exults, adding quickly that of course Napa has great wines, but the varieties planted are limited.
“ This wine makes my menu,” he says. “The passion [of Santa Barbara winemakers] drives my passion.” He acknowledges that he cooks for the wines rather than the other way around. “Recipes roll when I taste a wine and think, ‘What would I like to eat with this?’”
With its next generation of vintners emerging, and its innkeepers and restaurateurs eager to serve visitors, Santa Barbara County may be poised to give the folks in Napa a run for their money.
Jane F. Garvey is an Atlanta-based freelance writer devoted to the finer things in life, including food and wine.
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